News

In this section of the website, we provide information about recent publications, awards received and achievements by LMAP researchers, and related activities in the Department of Anthropology at Penn. Details about the published studies can be found in the RESEARCH section of the website, as well as through the links associated with them.

Aug 2020 – Genetics of the Catacomb Culture

Ochir-Goryaeva MA, Kornienko IV, Faleeva TG, Aramova OY, Makhotkin MA, Kekeev EA, Burataev EG, Kukanova VV, Sidorenko YS, Chartier DR, Schurr TG, Tatarinova TV. 2021. Ancestry and identity in Catacomb culture burials: A meta-tale of graves, skeletons, and DNA. J Archeol Sci: Reports 37: 102894.  Link

Image: Catacomb Culture burial from Ochir-Goryaeva et al. (2021)

Oct 2020 – Anson Street African Burial Ground Project

Fleskes RE, Ofunniyin AA, Gilmore JK, Poplin E, Abel SM, Bueschgen WD, Juarez C, Butler N, Mishoe G, Oubré L, Cabana GS, Schurr TG. Ancestry, health, and lived experiences of enslaved Africans in 18th century Charleston: An osteobiographical analysis. Am J Phys Anthropol 175(1): 3-24.  Link

Photo: Reburial of the Anson Street Ancestors on 4 May 2019. Photo credit: T.G. Schurr

Feb 2021 – Native Mexican Y-chromosome Diversity

Gómez MR, Vilar MG, Meraz MA, Figueroa-Corona P, Véliz D, Zúniga G, Hernández EA, Figueroa-Corona P, Owings AC, Gaieski JB, Schurr TG, The Genographic Consortium. 2021. Y-chromosome diversity in Aztlan descendants and its implications for the history of Central Mexico. iScience 24: 102487.  Link

Photo: XXXXX. Photo Credit: Rocio Gomez

Feb 2021 – Y-chromosome Diversity in Khazars

Kornienko IV, Faleeva TG, Schurr TG, Aramova OY, Ochir-Goyaeva MA, Batieva EF, Vdovchenkov EV, Moshkov NE, Kukanova VV, Ivanov IN, Sidorenko YS, Tatarinova TV. 2021. Y-chromosome haplogroup diversity in Khazar burials from southern Russia. Russ J Genet 57: 477-488.  Link

Image source: The Khazars: A Judeo-Turkish Empire on the Stepps, 7th-11th Centuries AD, by Mikhail Zhirohov & David Nicolle, Illustrations by Christa Hook.

April 2021 – Gullah Geechee Genomics

Zimmerman KP, Schurr TG, Chen W-M, Nayak U, Mychaleckyj JC, Quet Q, Moultire LH, Divers J, Keene KL, Kamen DL, Gilkeson GS, Hunt KJ, Sprulli IJ, Fernandes JK, Aldrich MA, Reich D, Garvey WT, Langefeld CD, Sale MM, Ramos PS. 2021. Genetic landscape of Gullah African Americans. Am J Phys Anthropol 1-15. [First published: 19 May 2021]  Link

Photo: Marquetta Goodwine, also known as Queen Quet, shown here in one of St. Helena Island’s rice fields, has been chieftess of the Gullah Geechee Nation since 2000 (Courtesy of the Gullah Geechee Sea Island Coalition).

June 2021 – mtDNA Diversity in Norway

Kristjansson D, Bohlin J, Astanand J, Schurr TG. 2021. Matrilineal diversity and population history of Norwegians. Am J Phys Anthropol First published: 10 June 2021.  Link

Image: Historic drawing of Norwegian populations. Image source: xxxxxxxxxxx

June 2021 – mtDNA Variation and Bioenergetics

Friedrich VK, Rubel M, Schurr TG. 2021. The role of mitochondrial genetic variation in human bioenergetics, adaptation, and adult disease. Am J Hum Biol First published: 19 June 2021  Link 

Image: Overview of mitochondria-related processes from Dimmer, K.S., & Rapaport, D. 2008. Proteomic view of mitochondrial function. Genome Biol 9, Article 209. https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2008-9-2-209.

Dec 2021 – HPV E6 and E7 Gene Variation

Totaro ME, Gili JA, Liotta JD, Schurr TG,  Picconi MA, Badano I. 2021. Genetic variation in the E6 and E7 genes of human papillomavirus type 16 in northeastern Argentina. J Med Virol First published: 27 September 2021.  Link

Image source: Hating et al. 2021. Microorganisms 9(5), 891; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9050891

Dec 2021 – Genetic Variation in Pakistani Ethnic Groups

Tariq M, Habib A, Hemphill BE, Farooq U, Schurr TG. 2022. Contrasting maternal and paternal genetic histories of five major ethnic groups of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Nature Scientific Reports 12: 1027.  Link

Image: KPP House and Committee Business Officers (https://www.pips.gov.pk/capacity_building/house-and-committee-business-responsibilities-and-functions-of-khyber-pakhtunkhwa-assembly-officers-2nd-to-4th-march-2022/

Feb 2022 – Neanderthal Fire Use

Abdolahzadeh A, McPherron SP, Sandgathe DM, Schurr TG, Olszewski DI, Dibble H. 2022. Investigating variability in the frequency of fire use in the archaeological record of Late Pleistocene Europe. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 14: 62.  Link

Image: David Williams/SAPIENS (https://www.sapiens.org/archaeology/neanderthal-fire/)

March 2022 – HPV Sequence Variation in Platyrrhines

Sanchez-Fernandez, C, Bolatti EM, Culasso ACA, Chouhy D, Kowalewski MM, Stella EJ, Schurr TG, Rinas MA, Liotta DJ, Campos RH, Giri AA, Badano I. 2022. Identification and evolutionary history of two novel papillomavirus sequences in New World monkeys (spp. Sapajus and Alouatta) from Argentina. Arch Virol 167: 1257-1268.1.  Link

Image: Figure 2 from Sanchez-Fernandez et al. 2022.

April 2022 – Phylogeography of mtDNA Haplogroup U5

Kristjansson D, Bohlin J, Nguyen TT, Jugessur A, Schurr TG. 2022. Evolution and dispersal of mitochondrial haplogroup U5 in Northern Europe: Insights from an unsupervised learning approach to phylogeography. BMC Genomics 23: 354.  Link

Image: Figure 2 from Kristjansson et al. 2022.

July 2022 – Genetic History of Micronesia

Liu Y-C, Hunter-Anderson R, Cheronet O, Eakin J, Camacho F, Pietrusewsky M, Rohland N, Ioannidis A, Athens JS, Douglas MT, Ikehara-Quebral RM, Bernardos R, Culleton BJ, Mah M, Adamski N, Broomandskhoshbacht N, Callan K, Lawson AM, Mandl K, Michel M, Oppenheimer J, Stewardson K, Zalzala F, Kidd K, Kidd J, Schurr TG, Auckland K, Hill AVS, Mentzer AJ, Quinto-Cortés CD, Robson K, Kennett DJ, Patterson N, Bustamante CD, Moreno-Estrada A, Spriggs M, Vilar M, Lipson M, Pinhasi R, Reich D. 2022. Ancient DNA evidence reveals five streams of migrations into Micronesia and matrilocality in early Pacific seafarers. Science 377(6601): 27-29.  Link

Image: Figure 1A from Liu et al. 2022

Sept 2022 – mtDNA Diversity and Ewing Sarcoma

Kaneva K, Schurr TG, Tatarinova T, Buckley J, Merkurjev D, Triska P, Liu X, Done J, Maglinte DT, Deapen D, Hwang A, Schiffman J, Triche TJ, Biegel JA, Gai X. 2022. Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup, genetic ancestry and susceptibility to Ewing sarcoma. Mitochondrion 67: 6-14.  Link

Diagram from Netter Images – Elsevier